By Emma Ogbuehi
Even with the declaration of ex-Central Bank Governor, Chukwuma Soludo as the winner of its primaries, the crisis in the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), deepened on Wednesday, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) insisting that the party will not participate in the November 6 governorship election in the state for violating the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.
INEC’s statement by its National Commissioner in charge of Publicity and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, indicated that APGA’s disqualification followed the party’s failure to comply with Section 85 of the Electoral Act, by not notifying it when it purportedly held its ad hoc congress to elect delegates for the party’s governorship primary.
The shocking development comes on the heels of cracks in the party that have seen it break into two factions, one, led by Victor Oye and the other, by Jude Okeke. While the Oye faction, said to enjoy the support of the governor, Willie Obiano, enthused at Soludo’s emergence, Okeke camp, described it as a charade, in fact, slamming an indefinite suspension on the candidate.
Okoye in his statement, argued that parties must act within the confines of the law in the conduct of their congresses and primaries to avoid issues and challenges that may complicate the conduct of elections. APGA’s national legal adviser, Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, however maintains that the party is on course for the election. There are fears that the contending issue may see the end of APGA as the governing party in Anambra – a development it had maintained with the then Governor Peter Obi, recovering his mandate from Chris Ngige, then of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2006.